There shall be a civil service commission in each county
having a population of twenty-five thousand or more. Each such
civil service commission shall consist of five commissioners, two
of whom shall be appointed by the bar association of such county,
one of whom shall be appointed by the correctional officer
association of such county, and two of whom shall be appointed by
the county commission of such county. In the event the bar
association or correctional officer association shall fail to make
an appointment within the time prescribed in this section therefor,
then such appointment shall be made by the county commission. The
persons appointed commissioners shall be qualified voters of the
county for which they are appointed, and at least three of the
commissioners shall be persons in full sympathy with the purposes
of this article. Not more than three of the commissioners, at any
one time, shall be members of the same political party. The
commissioners in each county shall be appointed as follows: Within
sixty days from the effective date of this article, the authorities
having the power to appoint members to the civil service commission
shall appoint the five commissioners, the first two to be appointed
by the bar association of the county shall serve for six years from
the date of his appointment, the one to be appointed by the
correctional officer association of the county shall serve for four
years from the date of his appointment, and the two to be appointed
by the county commission of the county shall serve for a term of two years from the date of his appointment. All subsequent
appointments shall be made for terms of six years. In the event
that any commissioner of the civil service commission shall cease
to be a member thereof by virtue of death, final removal or other
cause, a new commissioner shall be appointed to fill the unexpired
term of that commissioner within ten days after said
ex-commissioner shall have ceased to be a member of the commission.
Such appointment shall be made by the authority who appointed the
commissioner who is no longer a member of the commission. Each
year the members of the commission shall, together, elect one of
their number to act as president of the commission for a term of
one year. The county commission may at any time remove a
commissioner for good cause, which shall be stated in writing and
made a part of the records of the commission: Provided, That once
the county commission has removed any commissioner, such county
commission shall within ten days thereafter file in the office of
the clerk of the circuit court of the county a petition setting
forth in full the reason for the removal and praying for the
confirmation of the circuit court of the action of the county
commission in removing the said commissioner. A copy of the
petition shall be served upon the commissioner so removed
simultaneously with its filing in the office of the clerk of the
circuit court and shall have precedence on the docket of the
circuit court and shall be heard by the court as soon as
practicable upon the request of the removed commissioner. All rights hereby vested in the circuit court may be exercised by the
judge thereof in vacation. In the event that no term of the
circuit court is being held at the time of the filing of the
petition, and the judge thereof cannot be reached in the county
wherein the petition was filed, the petition shall be heard at the
next succeeding term of the circuit court, whether regular or
special, and the commissioner so removed shall remain removed until
a hearing is had upon the petition of the county commission. The
circuit court, or the judge thereof in vacation, shall hear and
decide the issues presented by the petition. The county commission
or commissioner, as the case may be, against whom the decision of
the circuit court or judge thereof in vacation shall be rendered
shall have the right to petition the supreme court of appeals for
a review of the decision of the circuit court or the judge thereof
in vacation as in other civil cases. In the event that the county
commission shall fail to file its petition in the office of the
clerk of the circuit court, as hereinbefore provided, within ten
days after the removal of the commissioner, such commissioner shall
immediately resume his position as a member of the civil service
commission.

Any resident of the county shall have the right at any time to
file charges against and seek the removal of any member of the
civil service commission. The charges shall be filed in the form
of a petition in the office of the clerk of the circuit court of
the county. A copy of the petition shall be served upon the commissioner sought to be removed. The petition shall be matured
for hearing and heard as a civil action by the circuit court of the
county for which the commissioner serves as a member of the civil
service commission or by the judge thereof in vacation. The party
against whom the decision of the circuit court or judge thereof in
vacation shall be rendered shall have the right to petition the
supreme court of appeals for a review of the decision of the
circuit court or judge thereof in vacation as in other civil cases.

No commissioner shall hold any other office (other than the
office of notary public) under the United States, this state, or
any municipality, county or other political subdivision thereof;
nor shall any commissioner serve on any political party committee
or take any active part in the management of any political
campaign.

Note: WV Code updated with legislation passed through the 2014 1st Special Session
The WV Code Online is an unofficial copy of the annotated WV Code, provided as a convenience. It has NOT been edited for publication, and is not in any way official or authoritative.